After losing the Lok Sabha election from Tura, Agatha K Sangma has been accommodated by the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government as the new chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR).
Sources said that Agatha’s appointment was approved by the state cabinet on Friday.
Her appointment is yet to be officially announced by the government even as no media houses were informed about the cabinet meeting, as it was usually done by the Chief Minister’s Office.
The social media handles of the Chief Minister too did not have anything on the cabinet decisions especially the appointment of Agatha.
However, former MLA and brother of Agatha, James Sangma expressed happiness over the appointment of Agatha.
“I extend my warmest congratulations to my dear sister, Smt. Agatha K. Sangma, on her appointment as the Chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights”, James posted on X today.
The new Chairperson of the SCPCR, who was first elected as Tura MP in 2008, lost the 2024 election to Saleng A Sangma of the Congress. She had even successfully contested the 2018 MLA election from South Tura but gave way to her brother Conrad Sangma, who was appointed as the Chief Minister of the state, a few months after her election.
In 2019 she was again re-elected as the Tura MP.
It may be mentioned that the SCPCR has been without a chairperson since February, after the term of Iamonlang M Syiem ended. Syiem is now the chairperson of the Meghalaya State Commission for Women (MSCW).
Syiem was initially appointed in September 2020 for a three-year term, which ended in December 2023. The state government had then extended her term for a brief period.
The SCPCR was set up in 2014 to protect and promote the rights of children from the age of 0 to 18 years of age.
The commission is mandated to monitor the proper and effective implementation of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012; Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
The child rights commission has six members. They include Shanon Donna Massar, Yorica Shylla, Flabina P. Marak, M K Marak, Tiana T D Areng and Dr. Ibamon Laloo.
